The present invention relates to a cart device designed to convert a track vehicle to wheeled operation. More specifically, this invention relates to a four-wheeled cart device onto which a snowmobile is driven and through which the rotation of the snowmobile tracks is translated to forward motion of the cart. The device is designed to accept a variety of makes and models of snowmobiles and provide for their operation when snow cover is insufficient.
With the unpredictability of winter weather and inconsistent snowfall in many areas of the country, many snowmobile owners have snowmobiles that sit idle in their sheds for a great many more months of the year than are used for traveling over snowy trails. Since the owners have made a sizeable investment in purchasing these machines, there is a need to find a way to expand the duration of time during the year in which these snowmobiles can be used. An option available to these owners is to bring the snowmobile further north where there is greater snowfall and a longer winter season. However, in this case as well, it is costly in terms of time and money to transport these snowmobiles further north and the time during which these expensive machines can be used is still extremely limited. Also, even in northern climates the snow disappears in the early spring not to reappear until the late fall.
The limitation inherent to the snowmobile is that while it is adept at traveling at high speeds over snow, when the snow melts it cannot travel over other terrain. This limitation arises from the use of skis as the front steering and stabilization component and rubber tracks as the rear drive component, both of which would be damaged from travel over pavement or dirt trails.
Many attempts have been made to provide for all terrain usage of snowmobiles in the form of conversion kits to replace the front skis and rear tracks with wheels. All of these prior art conversion kits are extremely difficult to employ and require a time consuming and mechanically challenging process to convert the snowmobile. For example, in the prior art, there are kits that allow conversion of a snowmobile for all terrain use that require complete disassembly of the front suspension of the snowmobile so that wheels with spring loaded spindles can be installed in their place. To install the rear wheels, the track belt must be removed, all of the spring-loaded track bogies must be taken off their spindles and then the rear wheels can be installed and connected to the drive train. Because these types of devices are time consuming to assemble and require a fair amount of mechanical ability, most snowmobile owners cannot, or will not, use them.
The present invention provides a novel solution to allow a snowmobile to be used as a four-wheeled vehicle for transport or recreation when there is no snow cover on the ground. The present invention consists of a chassis frame to which four wheels are attached. The front wheels are pivotally attached to the frame and interconnected by a steering linkage. The rear wheels are attached to an axle that is rotated by a chain drive linkage that is in turn driven by an arrangement of frictionally connected rubber wheels. A brake assembly may be provided at one or more of the wheels for stopping the vehicle.
The present invention as described above is employed by first driving a snowmobile onto the top of the chassis using a fold down ramp connected to the rear of the chassis. The skis at the front of the snowmobile engage into channels formed at the front of the chassis. The channels are pivotally connected to the chassis and integrally connected to the steering linkage. The snowmobile skis are clamped into the channels, whereby the steering action of the snowmobile is translated to a steering of the carts front tires. When the snowmobile rests on top of the chassis, the snowmobile track is aligned over, and engages with the rubber drive wheels. The drive action generated by the snowmobile track is frictionally transferred into the rubber tire arrangement and in turn, translated into the rear axle to provide the power required to rotate the rear tires and drive the vehicle. An idler wheel arrangement is provided adjacent to the transfer tire to further support the surface of the snowmobile track as it rotates. The snowmobile is generally attached to the cart device of the present invention both by the clamps and channels holding the front skis and by an attachment at the tow hitch on the rear of the snowmobile. The front and rear attachment points provide both axial and lateral stability during use.
Accordingly the object of the present invention is to provide a device for converting a track powered vehicle for use on wheels. Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for converting a snowmobile to wheeled use with out requiring disassembly of the snowmobile. It is also an object of the present invention to create a device that allows convenient off-season use of a snowmobile that is both easy to use and that can be used with a variety of manufactured snowmobiles.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.